Process and apparatus for coloring textile webs



Feb. 23, 932.

F. W. CLARK PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR COLORING TEXTILE WEBS Filed April11, 1950 m uuKuuw .530 2302-0 s K W ,Tmr L nW K H mm F w Patented Feb.23, 1-932 "UNITED STATES;

PATENT; OFFICE FRANK W. CLARK, OF SANFORD, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO SANFORDMILLS, OF SANFORD,

MAINE, A. CORPORATION OF MAINE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR COLORINGTEXTILE WEBB Application filed April 11,

to webs of air porous material and particularly to textile fabrics in amanner somewhat analogous to that of marblingrwherein a mutable designof color is floated on the surface of' a liquid carrier and is taken offthe surface by the web of material.

In t e decoration of paper and other similar and smooth and densematerials, satisfactory results are obtained by the application of thecolor thereto as a coating and it is the object of the presentinvention-to render this type of process and apparatus effective in im--'pregnatlng the material with the color so that it is dyed or coloredthroughout its substance. The invention renders it possible .to

color, impregnate, or dye air porous or tex tile fabrics of any degreeof thickness from ordinary plain goods to high pile plush or pile goods.

,The object of the invention is further to provide in the process andapparatus for the removal of excess carrier liquid or .water taken up bythe web of material as it laps the color film off the surface of thecarrier without disturbing the design imparted to the face of thematerial or blurring its outlines.

The object of the invention is further to secure thedesired results bythe application of suction throughout a transverse zone of the web tothe back of the web after the contact of the color film therewithwhereby the color is drawn into the material thoroughly impregnating itand whereby simultaneously any excess carrier liquid is removed from thematerial.

The general type of process and apparatus in which the invention isembodied is now a part of the prior art and therefore needs no extendeddescription here. In its'broad aspects a carrier body of water,preferably" a gravity flowing stream in a trough, is employed with thestream moving slowly enough to maintain its upper surface perfectlysmooth and unrippled. Color fluids of desired hues are prepared andgently laid onto the surface ofthe carrier so that they float thereonand are dispersed thereon in the required design. In an application ofJohn 1930.- Serial No. 443,565.

C. Senior, Serial No. 443,622, filed concurfluids and a method ofcontrolling their dispersion on the surface of the carrier liquidsuitable for impregnating or dyeing textile fabrics. After the colordesign is formed' floating on the surface of the carrier liquid, it iscarried thereby to a position where the Web of material is broughtbarely into touching contact with the carrier surface while moving inthe same direction so that the web laps off from the surface of thecarrier the color film. Immediatelyafter the color film is thus taken bythe web, the present invention comes into play and the color is drawninto the web of material thoroughly impregnating it and, at the sametime, the excess carrier liquid is. removed through the back of the web.Thus air porous or textile fab rics of all types may be colored or dyedsuccessfully, rapidly, and economicall in a mutable design such as ofthe wellown marbleized character.

The nature and objects of the invention will appear more fully from theaccompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointedout in the claims.

The drawlngs illustrate chiefly in diagrammatic form one type ofapparatus embodying the invention and for carrying out the process ofthe invention, but as this type of apparatus is now old in the art, itis only necessary to illustrate and describe it and its operationsufliciently to disclose the present invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partially broken away, of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a detail of one form of means for guiding the web into lappingcontact with and applying suction to the the color film web.

into the tank from a suitable supply pipe 3' and passes through astrainer 4 and over a dam 5 which determines the level of the top Fig. 3is a detail of another form of means .rently herewith, there-aredisclosed color surface of the carrier liquid and thence dissi may befed to or laid upon the surface the li uid carrier inany variety and byany suita le means and but one suchmeans is here illustrated. A smoothinclined plate or baflie 7 extends across the tank near the upstream endand is mounted, as indicated at 8, to be vertically adjustable and, asindicated at 9, to be angularly adjustable. Preferably this plate ismounted at such an inclination to the surface of the water or carrierliquid that color flowing therefrom will flow gently off the plate andmerge onto the surface of the water and be traveling at about the samespeed as the water. The lower edge of the plate is preferably sharpenedand located just to clear the upper surface of the water carrier.

Colors suitable for the dyeing and impregnation of the porous or textileweb and of the required variety of hues are fed onto the inclined plate7 from a plurality of receptacles, one for'each color. For example, aseries of fixedly mounted tanks, one of which is shown at 10, is mountedon a latform 11 above the tank 2. A conduit 12 leads from each tank intothe vicinity of theplate 7 and the flow from the tank therethrough iscontrolled by a suitable valve 13. Another row of transversely movablecolor receptacles, one of which is indicated at 14, is mounted to slidetransversely on the platform 15 extending transversely above the tank 2.From each of these. receptacles also leads a conduit 16 into thevicinity of the plate 7 and the flow of color therethrough is alsocontrolled by a .valve 17.. The colors flow from the co'nduits 12 instreams down the inclined plate and blend or coalesce with colors fromthe conduits 16 as these conduits are moved transversely back and forthacrossthe tank. Thus the color film made up of a variegated designcontrolled as desired flows oflf from the inclined plate 7 onto thesurface of the liquid or water carrier 1. Other means, as alreadypointed out and as known in the art, may be employed for varying thecharacter of the design ofthe color film and such means form no part ofthe present invention. In any event, the surface of the carrier liquidbefore it approaches the downstream end of the tank 2 is covered with afilm of colors presenting the desired mutable' design.

The web of air porous material such as the' textile, for example, plain.cloth or pile, fabric, is fed from a suitable supply, not shown,through tension and smoothing bars 18 above the tank overan idler 19,thence down around and past the means for guiding the web into lappingcontact with the color film and the means for applying suction to theback of the web, thence up and around an idler 20, thence to suitablemeans for feeding or drawing the web through the apparatus suchas thepower driven serrated roll 21 and thence out of the machine for furtherfinishe and- 2,.a non-rotatable hollow cylinder 22 is supported at itsends in blocks 23 adjustably mounted, as by screws 24, in the frame 25.This frame is shown as of general vU-shape pivoted at its ends 26 to-thetank and at its center supported in the revoluble hook 27 adjustablymounted by the screw 28 on the tank. This is shown simply as anillustration of.a means for accurately adjusting the cylinder 22 withrespect to the surface of the water carrier 1 and as a means forenabling the entire frame to be released and swung upward about itspivots 26 when it is desire to thread or unthread the web or have accessthereto. When the partsare in working position, the cylinder 22 ispositioned so as to color film and a suitable source of vacuum orsuction 30 is connected bya flexible pipe 31 to one end of the hollowcylinder.

The web is drawn around the cylinder 22' at approximately the same speedas the travel of the water carrier, although there may be a slightdifferential in the speed with the corresponding change in the colordesign. The

web laps the color film 015? from the surface of the liquid or watercarrier and immediately the vacuum produced in the hollow cylinderacting through the slot 29 against the back of the web sucks the colorinto and through the fabric, causing it thoroughly to penetrate and dyethe fabric and, at the same time, removes any excess of the liquid orwater carrier from the web.

In some cases it may be desirable that the cylinder which thus guidesthe web into lapping contact with the color filrn be rotatable to assistin the ready progression of the web through the apparatus. A variationof the construction for this purpose is shown in Fig. 3. In this casethe hollow cylinder 32 is provided at its ends with journals 33 mountedin bearing blocks 34 adjustable by the set screws 35 in the pivotedframe 25. In

this case it is necessary that the means for producing suction at theback of the web be separate from the cylinder and for that purpose asuction box 36 is shown mounted just above the cylinder at the back ofthe web having a slot 37 opening against the back of the web andconnected at one end by a pipe 38 to a suitable vacuum source. Again itwill be seen that after the web has lapped up the color onto its face,it immediately passes the which a color film floating on the surface ofslot 37 and the suction applied through this slot draws the color intothe web, causing it thoroughly to penetrate and dye the web and at thesame time removing any excess of the liquid or water carrier.

In each case, therefore, suction is applied through a transverse zone ofthe web'to the back of the web after the contact of the color fihntherewith both to draw the color into the web and to remove excesscarrier liquid.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In the process of decorating an air porous web with a mutable designof color in a travelling liquid carrier is brought into lapping contactwith the travelling web and taken oif thereby, the step of applyingsuction through a transverse zone of the web to the e back of the webafter the contact of the color film therewith to remove excess carrierliquid and to draw the color into the 'web.

2. In the process of dyeing atextile web' material wherein a color filmis floated on the surface of a travelling liquid carrier, means forguiding the travelling web of material into lapping contact with saidcarrier sur-' face to take off the color design therefrom, and means forapplying suction throughout a transverse zone of the web to the back ofthe web after the contact of the color therewith to remove excesscarrier liquid and to draw the color into the web.

4. In an apparatus for imparting a mutable design of color to a web ofair porous ma* terial wherein a color film is floated on the surface ofa travelling liquid carrier, 21 hollow guide extending transversely ofand just above the surface of the travelling liquid carrier for guidingthe travelling web of material into lapping contact with the carriersurface to take off the color design therefrom, the said guide openingfrom its interior to a transverse zone of the back of the web the faceof which has contacted with the color film, and means for applyingsuction to the interior of the hollow guide to remove excess carrierliquid from-the web and to draw the color into the web.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

' FRANK w, CLARK.

